Guardians Superstar Closer Listed As Potential Trade Target of Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies need bullpen help.

While president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is confident the situation won't be as dire during the postseason as it appears right now, what is almost certainly needed is a true closer.

Orion Kerkering could operate in that role eventually, but manager Rob Thomson is still deploying the committee approach that makes the ninth inning of close games a little murky.

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Just like last year when the Phillies acquired Carlos Estevez from the Los Angeles Angels, they could be in the market to do the same thing before July 31, only this time, they land a true difference maker.

At least that's what Russell Dorsey of Yahoo! Sports expects, with him listing superstar Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase as a potential target of Philadelphia.

Winner of the Mariano Rivera Reliever of the Year Award in 2022 and 2024, the American League leader in saves each of the last three seasons would be a huge addition to this bullpen.

Giving the Phillies an elite shutdown man like Clase completely changes the outlook of this relief staff, with the flamethrowing righty being helf for a save situation while Kerkering and Matt Strahm can be deployed in high-leverage spots to get important outs before the final frame.

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And with Clase under contract through 2026 with club options for an affordable $10 million each in 2027 and 2028, that would solve Philadelphia's closer issue for years to come.

Of course, that club control also makes him more expensive to acquire, and it seems strange that a perennial contender like the Guardians would want to give up such an important part of their pitching staff.

However, Jim Bowden of The Athletic (subscription required) is hearing there's a chance Cleveland could be willing to part ways with the superstar closer.

"Clase's name kept coming up in the survey, which surprised me as he's considered one of the top closers in the game ... The Guardians, who rank 26th in runs, need more offense. Perhaps they'd be willing to make a buyer-to-buyer type of trade to give up a lock-down leverage reliever for a middle-of-the-order impact bat to address this weakness," he wrote.

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With that in mind, the gears should be turning for Dombrowski.

If they can realistically add Clase without giving up their big three prospects of Andrew Painter, Aidan Miller and Justin Crawford, then he should do whatever he can to make that a possibility.

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